Aston Martin Planning New Le Mans Prototype Racer for Next Year

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As Aston Martin prepares to hit the track at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the company has bigger plans to continue on racing prototypes well into the future. According to AutoSport, Aston Martin Racing will begin building six all-new ground-up prototype racers. Currently Aston Martin Racing runs two cars in the LMP1 field, which use Aston engines but Lola chassis.

The plan is to race two cars with a Prodrive-run factory backed team, as well as two privateer teams. An additional two cars would then be built for other teams for 2012.

The current LMP1 Astons simply aren’t competitive, lagging behind the more fuel efficient diesels of Audi and Peugeot. It’s not yet clear if Aston intends to use conventional gasoline technology, switch to diesels or perhaps even use a hybrid setup, but Aston chairman David Richards recently commented that the AMR LMP1 project wouldn’t go ahead until gasoline and diesel powered cars could compete on a level playing field. Word that Aston’s program has now begun seem to suggest the company may know something about a significant rule change for the 2011 season.

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